Broadcast receiving device and method for receiving broadcast thereof

ABSTRACT

A broadcast receiving device and a method for receiving a broadcast thereof are provided. The broadcast receiving device includes a channel receiving unit which receives a channel broadcasting signal, generates a first parallel signal from the received channel broadcasting signal, converts the parallel signal into a serial signal, and outputs the serial signal; and a main body unit which receives the serial signal output from the channel receiving unit, reconverts the received serial signal into a second parallel signal, processes the second parallel signal, and outputs a video signal, an audio signal, and an additional data signal extracted from the processed second parallel signal. Since the channel receiving unit is provided as a separate unit from the main body unit, the thickness of the broadcast receiving device can be further reduced.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. application Ser.No. 13/402,157, filed Feb. 22, 2012, which claims priority from KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2011-0063975, filed on Jun. 29, 2011, in theKorean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

Methods and apparatuses consistent with exemplary embodiments relategenerally to a broadcast receiving device and a method for receiving abroadcast thereof, and more particularly, to a broadcast receivingdevice and a method for receiving a broadcast thereof, which can processa broadcast signal that is received from an external source and providethe processed broadcast signal to a user.

2. Description of the Related Art

A digital broadcast receiving device in the related art is provided withall constituent elements that are required to receive a broadcast, suchas a channel receiving section, a signal processing section, a controlsection, and the like, which are included in one unit. That is, theconstituent elements, such as the channel receiving section, the signalprocessing section, the control section, and the like, are mounted onone or plural printed circuit boards (PCBs), and the one or plural PCBsare included in one unit.

However, if all the constituent elements that are required to receivethe broadcast are included in one unit in the digital broadcastreceiving device in the related art, two problems occur as follows.

First, according to the recent tendency of a digital broadcast receivingdevice, the thickness thereof has become thinner. However, no matter howslim a display device becomes, inclusion of all the constituent elementsof the broadcast receiving device in one unit will limit the slimness ofthe digital broadcast receiving device.

Second, in the case of installing a thin and light-weight digitalbroadcast receiving device as a wall mount type device, an RF cable thatis required to receive the broadcast should be installed, and this maycause restrictions in installing the device.

SUMMARY

One or more exemplary embodiments may overcome the above disadvantagesand other disadvantages not described above. However, it is understoodthat one or more exemplary embodiment are not required to overcome thedisadvantages described above, and may not overcome any of the problemsdescribed above. Accordingly, an aspect of one or more exemplaryembodiments provides a broadcast receiving device and a method forreceiving a broadcast thereof, which can transmit a broadcast datasignal from a channel receiving section, which is arranged in a separateunit from a main body unit of the receiver, to the main body unit usinga serial-parallel converter.

According to one aspect of an exemplary embodiment, a broadcastreceiving device includes a channel receiving unit which receives achannel broadcasting signal, generates a first parallel signal from thereceived channel broadcasting signal, converts the first parallel signalinto a serial signal, and outputs the serial signal; and a main bodyunit which receives the serial signal output from the channel receivingunit, reconverts the received serial signal into a second parallelsignal, processes the second parallel signal, and outputs a videosignal, an audio signal, and an additional data signal extracted fromthe processed second parallel signal.

The channel receiving unit may include a channel receiving section whichprocesses the channel broadcasting signal and generates the firstparallel signal; and a first serial-parallel converter which convertsthe first parallel signal into the serial signal and outputs the serialsignal to the main body unit.

The first serial-parallel converter may convert the serial signal into adifferential signal and may output the differential signal to the mainbody unit, and the main body unit may reconvert the receiveddifferential signal into a second parallel signal.

Further, the first serial-parallel converter may further include aPhase-Locked Loop which generates a clock signal that is synchronizedwith the channel broadcasting signal having a predetermined frequency.

Further, the first serial-parallel converter may embed the clock signalinto the serial signal and may output the serial signal embedded withthe clock signal to the main body unit.

Further, the first serial-parallel converter may output the clock signalto the main body unit through a separate channel from a channel thatoutputs the serial signal.

The main body unit may include a second serial-parallel converter whichreceives the serial signal output from the first serial-parallelconverter and reconverts the received serial signal into the secondparallel signal; and a signal processing section which processes thesecond parallel signal converted by the second serial-parallel converterand outputs the video signal, the audio signal, and the additional datasignal.

The broadcasting signal may include a data signal, a start signal whichreports a start of a transport stream, and a valid signal which reportsa valid time period of data.

The broadcast receiving device may be a wall mountable TV.

According to another aspect of an exemplary embodiment, a method forreceiving a broadcast for a broadcast receiving device includes, by achannel receiving unit of the broadcast receiving device: receiving achannel broadcasting signal; generating a first parallel signal from thereceived channel broadcasting unit; converting the first parallel signalinto a serial signal; and outputting the serial signal to a main body ofthe broadcast receiving device; and, by a main body of the broadcastreceiving device: receiving the serial signal from the channel receivingunit and reconverting the received serial signal into a second parallelsignal; processing the second parallel signal; and outputting a videosignal, an audio signal, and an additional data signal extracted fromthe processed second parallel signal.

The step of converting the parallel signal into the serial signal andthe step of outputting the serial signal to the main body may includeconverting the serial signal into a differential signal and outputtingthe differential signal to the main body unit.

Further, the step of converting the parallel signal into the serialsignal and outputting the serial signal to the main body may furtherinclude generating a clock signal that is synchronized with thebroadcast signal having a predetermined frequency.

Further, the step of converting the parallel signal into the serialsignal and outputting the serial signal to the main body may includeembedding the clock signal into the serial signal and outputting theserial signal embedded with the clock signal to the main body unit.

Further, the step of converting the parallel signal into the serialsignal and outputting the serial signal to the main body may includeoutputting the clock signal to the main body unit through a separatechannel from a channel that outputs the serial signal.

The broadcasting signal may include a data signal, a start signal whichreports a start of a transport stream, and a valid signal which reportsa valid time period of data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and/or other aspects will be more apparent by describing indetail exemplary embodiments, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the configurationof a digital broadcast receiving device according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a channelreceiving unit of a digital broadcast receiving device according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a main bodyunit of a digital broadcast receiving device according to an exemplaryembodiment; and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for receiving a broadcastfor a digital broadcast receiving device according to an exemplaryembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments are described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosureis not restricted or limited to such exemplary embodiments. Forreference, in explaining the present disclosure, well-known functions orconstructions will not be described in detail so as to avoid obscuringthe description with unnecessary detail.

The term “section” as used herein means a hardware component, such as aprocessor or circuit, and/or a software component that is executed by ahardware component such as a processor.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the configurationof a digital broadcast receiving device 100 according to an exemplaryembodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the broadcast receiving device 100includes a channel receiving unit 110 and a main body unit 120. In thiscase, the broadcast receiving device 100 may be implemented by a devicehaving a channel receiving section such as a digital TV, andparticularly, by a wall mount TV.

The channel receiving unit 110 is a separate unit that is apart from themain body unit 120, and receives a broadcasting signal that istransmitted by wire or wirelessly from an external source to output thereceived broadcasting signal to the main body unit 120.

In particular, the channel receiving unit 110 receives the broadcastingsignal of a broadcasting channel, generates a parallel signal, andconverts the generated parallel signal into a serial signal using aserializer to output the converted serial signal to the main body unit120. In this case, the broadcasting signal includes a data signal, astart signal which reports a start of a transport stream, and a validsignal which reports a valid time period of data.

In particular, the serializer converts the serial signal into adifferential signal in (+) and (−) forms to output the differentialsignal. This is to perform a long-distance transmission of ahigh-frequency signal such as the serial signal.

Further, the channel receiving unit 110 can generate a clock signal thatis synchronized with the broadcasting signal. In this case, the clocksignal may be embedded into the serial signal that is converted by theserializer to be output to the main body unit 120, or may be output tothe main body unit 120 using a separate channel.

The main body unit 120 includes a configuration for driving thebroadcast receiving device 100 except for the channel receiving unit110. For example, the main body unit 120 may include a signal processingsection, a control section, and an output section (for example, adisplay section and a speaker section).

In particular, the main body unit 120 receives the serial signal outputfrom the channel receiving unit 110, reconverts the received serialsignal into a parallel signal, and processes the reconverted parallelsignal to output at least one signal of the video signal, the audiosignal, and the additional data signal to the output section.

Specifically, the main body unit 120 reconverts the serial signal outputfrom the serializer into a parallel signal using a deserializer.Further, the main body unit 120 performs the signal process using thereconverted parallel signal, and outputs the video signal, the audiosignal, and the additional data signal through an output section such asa display section or a speaker section.

As described above, since the channel receiving unit is providedseparately from the main body unit 120 and the broadcasting signal istransmitted from the external channel receiving unit 110 to the mainbody unit 120 using a serializer-deserializer (SERDES), the thickness ofthe broadcast receiving device 100 can be further reduced.

Hereinafter, referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the channel receiving unit 110and the main body unit 120 will be described in more detail.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a channelreceiving unit 110 of a digital broadcast receiving device according toan exemplary embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the channel receivingunit 110 includes a channel receiving section 111 and a firstserial-parallel conversion section 112.

The channel receiving section 111 receives broadcasting signals input bywire or wirelessly from diverse external sources, and outputs a parallelsignal. In this case, the channel receiving section 111 may include atleast one of a tuner which selects one channel from plural broadcastingchannels, a demodulator which converts a received RF signal into an IFsignal and outputs the IF signal in the form of a transport stream, anda channel decoder which prevents a channel transport error.

Specifically, the channel receiving section 111 selects one broadcastingsignal from the plural broadcasting signals received from the externalsource and outputs a parallel signal. In this case, the broadcastingsignal includes an 8-bit data signal, a valid signal which reports avalid time period of data, a start signal which reports a start of atransport stream, and a clock signal, and thus is composed of 11 bits intotal. In particular, among the output signals of the channel receivingsection 111, the valid signal and the start signal are allocated asparallel signals, and the clock signal is allocated as a clock signalfor transmitting the transport stream through a phase-locked loop (PLL)provided inside the first serial-parallel conversion unit 112.

However, in the case of a serial mode, according to the type of thechannel receiving section 111 used, the data signal may be composed ofone bit. In this case, the clock speed may correspond to 8 times thefrequency in comparison to the parallel mode.

The first serial-parallel conversion section 112 includes a serializerwhich converts the parallel signal transmitted from the channelreceiving section 111 into a serial signal in order to output theconverted serial signal to the main body unit 120, and a phase-lockedloop (PLL) which generates the clock signal. In this case, the firstserial-parallel conversion section 112 can generate the serial signal byembedding the clock signal into the parallel signal.

However, this is merely exemplary, and the clock signal may betransmitted using a separate channel from the serial signal according tothe type of the serial-parallel converter used.

Further, the first serial-parallel conversion section 112 may convertthe serial signal into a differential signal in (+) and (−) forms forlong-distance transmission of the serial signal and output thedifferential signal D+ and D− to the main body unit 120.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the channel receiving unit 110, which isseparately provided on the outside of the main body unit 120, convertsthe parallel signal into the serial signal to output the convertedserial signal, and thus long-distance transmission of the broadcastingdata becomes possible without error even if the channel receiving unit110 is on the outside.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a main bodyunit 120 of a digital broadcast receiving device according to anexemplary embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the main body unit 120includes a second serial-parallel conversion section 121, a signalprocessing section 122, an output section 123, and a control section124.

The second serial-parallel conversion section 121 receives the serialsignal output from the first serial-parallel conversion section 112 ofthe channel receiving unit 110 and reconverts the received serial signalinto a parallel signal to output the reconverted parallel signal to thesignal processing section 122. The second serial-parallel conversionsection 121 includes a deserializer which reconverts the serial signalin the form of a differential signal output from the firstserial-parallel conversion section 112 into a parallel signal, and aphase-locked loop (PLL) which generates the clock signal.

In particular, the deserializer reconverts the input serial signal intoa 8-bit signal, a valid signal, a start signal, and a clock signal,which is similar or equivalent to the parallel signal before being inputto the first serial-parallel conversion section 112, and outputs thereconverted parallel signal to the signal processing section 122.

The signal processing section 122 performs a signal process on the inputparallel signal under the control of the control unit 124. In this case,the signal processing section 122 may include a demultiplexer whichdemultiplexes the parallel signal into a video signal, an audio signal,and an additional data signal, an MPEG-2 decoder which processes thedemultiplexed video signal, and an AC-3 decoder which processes thedemultiplexed audio signal.

Specifically, the signal processing section 122 separates the inputparallel signal into the video signal, the audio signal, and theadditional data signal through multiplexing. The separated video signalis processed by the MPEG-2 decoder, and the separated audio signal isprocessed by the AC-3 decoder. Further, the signal processing section122 outputs the processed video signal, audio signal, and additionaldata signal to the output section 123.

The output section 123 outputs the video signal, the audio signal, andthe additional data signal output from the signal processing section 122to a user. In this case, the output section 123 may include a displaysection 123-1 which outputs the video signal or the additional datasignal, and a speaker section 124-1 which outputs the audio signal.

The control section 124 receives a user command and controls the overalloperation of the broadcast receiving device 100. In particular, thecontrol section 124 controls the signal processing section 122 and theoutput section 123 to provide the broadcast received from the externalsource to the user.

In this case, the control section 124 may be implemented by a centralprocessing unit (CPU).

As described above, since the broadcasting signal is transmitted fromthe channel receiving unit 100 separately provided from the main bodyunit 120 to the main body unit 120 using the serializer-deserializer(SERDES), the thickness of the broadcast receiving device 100 can befurther reduced.

Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 4, a method for receiving a broadcast fora broadcast receiving device 100 will be described.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for receiving a broadcastfor a digital broadcast receiving device 100 according to an exemplaryembodiment.

First, the channel receiving unit 110 of the broadcast receiving device100 receives by wire or wirelessly broadcasting signals input frombroadcasting stations. Then, the channel receiving unit 110 generates aparallel signal using the broadcasting signal that is selected among theplural broadcasting signals by the tuner (S410). In this case, theparallel signal includes a data signal, a start signal which reports astart of a transport stream, a valid signal which reports a valid timeperiod of data, and a clock signal for synchronization.

Then, the channel receiving unit 110 converts the parallel signal intothe serial signal and outputs the converted serial signal to the mainbody unit 120 (S420). Specifically, the channel receiving unit 110 mayconvert the parallel signal including the data signal, the start signal,the valid signal, and the clock signal into the serial signal. In thiscase, the serial signal may be a differential signal in (+) and (−)forms for long-distance transmission.

However, although it is exemplified that the clock signal is embeddedinto the serial signal in the above-described exemplary embodiment, thisis merely exemplary, and the clock signal may be transmitted to the mainbody unit 120 separately from the serial signal through another channel.

If the serial signal is transmitted from the channel receiving unit 110to the main body unit 120, the main body unit 120 reconverts thereceived serial signal into the parallel signal (S430). Specifically,the main body unit 120 reconverts the received serial signal into theparallel signal including the data signal, the start signal, the validsignal, and the clock signal.

Further, the main body unit 120 processes the reconverted parallelsignal (S440). Specifically, the main body unit 120 demultiplexes thereconverted parallel signal into the video signal, the audio signal, andthe additional data signal. The demultiplexed video signal istransmitted to the MPEG-2 decoder, and the demultiplexed audio signal istransmitted to the AC-3 decoder to be processed.

Further, the main body unit 120 provides the received broadcast to theuser through outputting of the processed video signal, audio signal, andadditional data signal (S450). Specifically, the main body unit 120 candisplay the processed video signal or additional data signal and outputthe processed audio signal through the speaker.

As described above, since the channel receiving unit 100 is providedseparately from the main body unit 120, the thickness of the broadcastreceiving device 100 can be further reduced.

The foregoing exemplary embodiments and advantages are merely exemplaryand are not to be construed as limiting the present inventive concept.The exemplary embodiments can be readily applied to other types ofapparatuses. Also, the description of the exemplary embodiments isintended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims,and many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent tothose skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A digital television comprising: a channelreceiving unit, the channel receiving unit comprising: a tunerconfigured to receive a broadcasting signal, select a broadcastingchannel from the broadcasting signal, and generate a first parallelsignal from the broadcasting channel; and a parallel-serial converterconfigured to generate a clock signal synchronized with the broadcastingsignal, convert the first parallel signal and the clock signal into aserial signal, convert the serial signal into a differential signal, andoutput the differential signal; and a main body unit, the main body unitcomprising: a serial-parallel converter configured to receive thedifferential signal, convert the differential signal into a secondparallel signal; and a signal processing section configured to processthe second parallel signal and output a video signal and an audio signalextracted from the processed second parallel signal, wherein the channelreceiving unit is provided physically separated from the main body unit.2. The digital television as claimed in claim 1, wherein theparallel-serial converter comprises a Phase-Locked Loop configured togenerate the clock signal that is synchronized with the channelbroadcasting signal having a predetermined frequency.
 3. The digitaltelevision as claimed in claim 2, wherein the parallel-serial converteris further configured to embed the clock signal into the serial signaland output the differential signal embedded with the clock signal. 4.The digital television as claimed in claim 2, wherein theparallel-serial converter is further configured to output the clocksignal to the serial-parallel converter arranged in the main body unitthrough a channel separate from a channel of the serial signal.
 5. Thedigital television as claimed in claim 1, wherein the broadcastingsignal comprises a data signal, a start signal which reports a start ofa transport stream, and a valid signal which reports a valid time periodof data.
 6. The digital television as claimed in claim 1, wherein thedigital television is a wall mountable digital television, and whereinthe channel receiving unit is provided separately outside of the wallmountable digital television.
 7. The digital television as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the first parallel signal is equivalent to the secondparallel signal.
 8. The digital television as claimed in claim 1,wherein the main body unit does not include any tuner.
 9. A method of adigital television processing a broadcasting signal, the methodcomprising: receiving the broadcasting signal, selecting a broadcastingchannel from the broadcasting signal, and generating a first parallelsignal from the broadcasting channel comprising a video signal of thebroadcasting channel and an audio signal of the broadcasting channel, bya tuner arranged in a channel receiving unit of the digital television;generating a clock signal synchronized with the broadcasting signal,converting the first parallel signal and the clock signal into a serialsignal, converting the serial signal into a differential signal, andoutputting the differential signal from the channel receiving unit to amain body unit of the digital television provided separately from thechannel receiving unit, by a parallel-serial converter arranged in thechannel receiving unit of the digital television; receiving thedifferential signal and converting the differential signal into a secondparallel signal by a serial-parallel converter arranged in the main bodyunit of the digital television; and, processing the second parallelsignal and outputting a video signal and an audio signal extracted fromthe processed second parallel signal by a signal processing sectionarranged in the main body unit of the digital television.
 10. The methodas claimed in claim 9, wherein the parallel-serial converter comprises aPhase-Locked Loop configured to generate the a clock signal that issynchronized with the channel broadcasting signal having a predeterminedfrequency.
 11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein converting theserial signal into the differential signal comprises embedding the clocksignal into the serial signal, and wherein the outputting thedifferential signal comprises outputting the differential signalembedded with the clock signal from the channel receiving unit to themain body unit.
 12. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein theoutputting the differential signal comprises outputting the clock signalfrom the channel receiving unit to the main body unit through a channelseparate from a channel of the serial signal.
 13. The method as claimedin claim 9, wherein the broadcasting signal includes a data signal, astart signal which reports a start of a transport stream, and a validsignal which reports a valid time period of data.